Project Description
Newcastle Aero Club was founded in 1925 and is the oldest flying club in Great Britain. In 1935 it moved to what has now become Newcastle International Airport.
From these humble beginnings the airport has grown to handle 5.4m passengers in 2017, and plans to increase this to 9.4m passengers by 2035 as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative. As the airport grows and more land is developed, it is inevitable that the amount of impermeable surfaces will increase. That means the surface water run-off management scheme needs to be able to handle the expected increased volume to meet planning and environmental restrictions.
The Challenge
To meet the future storage requirements the airport is increasing the capacity of existing storage lagoons, and may look to add more lagoons in the future. However in this area the water table is only 500mm below ground level in places, which means there is a significant risk of ground water pressure causing uplift to the liners. A stone layer under the liner could alleviate this, but would need a protection layer to protect the liner from the stone. Deeper excavation would be necessary to accommodate the drainage stone and achieve the required storage capacity. More excavation means an increased volume of soil disposal, as well as digging deeper into the water table which could exacerbate the problem.
The Solution
To manage groundwater, allow ground gas to escape and remove uplift pressure on the liner ABG Pozidrain geocomposite was installed. ABG Pozidrain provides more drainage capacity than a traditional 300mm stone layer, meaning all of the excavated capacity can be used for storage. ABG Pozidrain geocomposite also provides protection for the liner, since it has a high resistance to puncture.
The multiple functions provided by the ABG Pozidrain drainage layer removed the need to import quarried stone, which meant an estimated reduction of over 200 vehicles to this remote site. In turn that allowed a lower specification of access route, offering further material savings.
ABG Pozidrain 6S250D/NW8 Drainage Geocomposite
The ABG Service
ABG provided detailed technical support to ensure sufficient drainage capacity, while protecting the liner and checking slopes remained stable.
Contact ABG today to discuss your project specific requirements and discover how ABG past experience and innovative products can help.
